The book “How Democracies Die” points out that political norms, which help hold all democracies together, are being broken in the U.S., so much so that voters and politicians are becoming overwhelmed and accustomed to collapse of those norms. 

The authors observe we are so polarized today that we won’t even try working together, and our politicians are more concerned about party or reelection than implementing meaningful legislation.

“How Democracies Die” delineates a series of warning signs of how different countries fell into autocracy and how the U.S. is moving in that direction.

The authors focus on specific questions about the actions of a country’s leader and apply these questions to President Trump. They ask if the country’s leader:

1.    Claims the existing system is rigged and the opposing party/politicians are illegitimate, unpatriotic and corrupted by the elite.

• Trump calls opponents/opposing parties subversive names claiming they threaten our way of life.

2.    Rejects democratic rules with a willingness to violate those rules including questioning the legitimacy of our elections.

• Trump questioned if he would accept the 2016 election if he lost and falsely claimed there was large scale voter fraud involved with the election.

3.    Encourages violence or attacks against those who oppose him stating rivals are criminals.

• Trump tolerated and reveled in violence during his campaign and encouraged supporters who physically assaulted protesters during rallies.

4.    Shows a willingness to curtail civil liberties or take legal action against opponents or critical news media.

• Trump continually berates the media indicating “Media among the most dishonest groups of people I’ve ever met.”

Democracy survives when our leaders fight for it.  Educate yourselves and oppose autocratic behavior.  Tell your representatives that they must work together with their rivals to keep our democracy safe and vote for those representatives that listen to you.

Ken Peterson

Buchanan